Speed of downloads is s-l-o-w.....

Hello

I have a ADSL Max connection with Pipex.

The speed test at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ say my download speed
is 236.12 Kbps ( 0.2 Mbps ). Speed up is actually quicker, at 296.62
Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps ).

So the question is, why is my download connection so slow?

Stats from my router are:

Connection Status Connected
Upstream Rate (Kbps) 448
Downstream Rate (Kbps) 7520
US Margin 26
DS Margin 11
Modulation MMODE
LOS Errors 0
DS Line Attenuation 35
US Line Attenuation 37
Path Mode Interleaved

Thanks for any help. Please keep any answers as simple as possible: I
am a novice.

Cheers,
Keith.

"Keith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> Hello
>
> I have a ADSL Max connection with Pipex.
>
> The speed test at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ say my download speed
> is 236.12 Kbps ( 0.2 Mbps ). Speed up is actually quicker, at 296.62
> Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps ).
>
> So the question is, why is my download connection so slow?
>
> Stats from my router are:
>
> Connection Status Connected
> Upstream Rate (Kbps) 448
> Downstream Rate (Kbps) 7520
> US Margin 26
> DS Margin 11
> Modulation MMODE
> LOS Errors 0
> DS Line Attenuation 35
> US Line Attenuation 37
> Path Mode Interleaved
>
> Thanks for any help. Please keep any answers as simple as possible: I
> am a novice.
>
> Cheers,
> Keith.
>




Try the speedtest here http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
Change mode to GDMT
Is it wireless and is security enabled, leeched use?
There might other background downloads going on ?
Networked with other PC`s?

Martin C

> Try the speedtest here http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
> Change mode to GDMT
> Is it wireless and is security enabled, leeched use?
> There might other background downloads going on ?
> Networked with other PC`s?
>
> Martin C
>Could be any of them, but it's more than likely its Pipex Change ISP.

Dan

On 10 Jan 2007 12:49:41 -0800, "Keith" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>So the question is, why is my download connection so slow?

run speedtester.bt.com to discover your IP profile. May need patience
or an early morning start.

Phil

>
> Try the speedtest here http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
> Change mode to GDMT
> Is it wireless and is security enabled, leeched use?
> There might other background downloads going on ?
> Networked with other PC`s?
>
> Martin C

Hi Martin

I've tried the speedtest you indicated: it returned a download speed of
2552 kbps, and upload of 254 kbps. The http://www.thinkbroadband.com/
speedtest, the one I talked about in my first message, is now showing a
download speed of 1724.98 Kbps, which is about 8 times quicker than my
first test.

I've been trying to do the BT speedtest again. After entering my phone
number, I get a page asking for my normal login. When I enter
(E-Mail Removed), I get:

"The login name entered on this tool doesnt match that discovered by
querying the network for your domain name. Please check your telephone
number (or user name) and try again. If problem persists please contact
your ISP."........am I doing something wrong, or is this part of the
problem leading to slow speeds?

I don't understand what you mean by switching mode to GDMT; where do I
do this? In the router?

I have a wireless router, a desktop and 2 laptops, all wirelessly
connected to the router. When I ran the speedtest I originally quoted
in my first message in the thread, I only had one laptop on. I don't
think there were any other downloads being performed (no windows
updates, virus definition downloads, etc).

Cheers,
Keith.

>
> I've been trying to do the BT speedtest again. After entering my phone
> number, I get a page asking for my normal login. When I enter
> (E-Mail Removed), I get:
>

OK, more information. I've realised enterinig my email address into the
BT speed checker wasn't going to get me very far, so I put in the
router login details instead. Here are the numbers produced:

IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 7520 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 4486 kbps.

So, given all the numbers in the posts above, can I don anything to
improve my download speeds?

Cheers,
Keith.

Keith wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> I have a ADSL Max connection with Pipex.
>
> The speed test at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ say my download speed
> is 236.12 Kbps ( 0.2 Mbps ). Speed up is actually quicker, at 296.62
> Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps ).
>
> So the question is, why is my download connection so slow?
>
> Stats from my router are:
>
> Connection Status Connected
> Upstream Rate (Kbps) 448
> Downstream Rate (Kbps) 7520
> US Margin 26
> DS Margin 11
> Modulation MMODE
> LOS Errors 0
> DS Line Attenuation 35
> US Line Attenuation 37
> Path Mode Interleaved
>
> Thanks for any help. Please keep any answers as simple as possible: I
> am a novice.
>
> Cheers,
> Keith.

Downloading a big driver file this moment: 12.8 KB/sec, it's dreadful!
Nominal broadband 1Mb/sec with tesco.net. I could get 5KB/s when I had
the dial-up modem connection.

On Thursday, in article
<(E-Mail Removed)>
(E-Mail Removed) "johannes" wrote:

> Keith wrote:
> >
> > Hello
> >
> > I have a ADSL Max connection with Pipex.
> >
> > The speed test at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ say my download speed
> > is 236.12 Kbps ( 0.2 Mbps ). Speed up is actually quicker, at 296.62
> > Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps ).
> >
> > So the question is, why is my download connection so slow?
> >
> > Stats from my router are:
> >
> > Connection Status Connected
> > Upstream Rate (Kbps) 448
> > Downstream Rate (Kbps) 7520
> > US Margin 26
> > DS Margin 11
> > Modulation MMODE
> > LOS Errors 0
> > DS Line Attenuation 35
> > US Line Attenuation 37
> > Path Mode Interleaved
> >
> > Thanks for any help. Please keep any answers as simple as possible: I
> > am a novice.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Keith.
>
> Downloading a big driver file this moment: 12.8 KB/sec, it's dreadful!
> Nominal broadband 1Mb/sec with tesco.net. I could get 5KB/s when I had
> the dial-up modem connection.

Contention?

I've never been 100% clear on just what is being shared between the
customer and the ISP on broadband, and I seem to be pretty lucky here,
but I know that when I was on dial-up I was effectively guaranteed 100%
of what my modem could deliver. And on Broadband I'm not guaranteed that
100%.

But that sounds pretty bad. Still, there are sites out there which
struggle to deliver at faster than dial-up speeds.

It's frustrating, but I can live with slow downloads on broadband. They
don't clock up phone charges, or tie up the phone line. It's the places
that seem to expect high-speed connections that will cause the hassle.
Streaming video, for instance.

--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

"I am Number Two," said Penfold. "You are Number Six."

On 11 Jan 2007, (E-Mail Removed) ("David G. Bell") wrote:

>On Thursday, "johannes" wrote:

>> Downloading a big driver file this moment: 12.8 KB/sec, it's dreadful!
>> Nominal broadband 1Mb/sec with tesco.net. I could get 5KB/s when I had
>> the dial-up modem connection.

>Contention?

Seems likely. One thing that's different in this case is that Tesco.Net
ADSL is managed by NTL and AFAIK (based on past comments) uses DataStream
where the ISP rents a virtual pipe from the exchange, and shares it among
the customers on that exchange. So at some times in the past people that
wanted Tesco.Net were told their exchange wasn't supported (ADSL was live
at the exchange, but at that point, it would have needed use of the BT W
IPstream not DataStream product, and many other ISPs would have said OK
but Tesco/NTL couldn't, as they would have needed to order DataStream
and presumably only ordered it at exchanges with sufficient interest or
existing dial-up Tesco.Net customers to think it would be worth doing).


>It's frustrating, but I can live with slow downloads on broadband. They
>don't clock up phone charges, or tie up the phone line.

Indeed. For the most part the speed should matter less, there's no per-
minute fee (for most services) and no time limit (eg 160 hours/month)

>It's the places that seem to expect high-speed connections that will
>cause the hassle. Streaming video, for instance.

Yes... I enjoy the snooker when it's on.

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:16:58 +0000 (GMT), (E-Mail Removed)
("David G. Bell") wrote:

>I've never been 100% clear on just what is being shared between the
>customer and the ISP on broadband

two things - the pipe connecting the exchange to the BT ATM network
"cloud" and the "BT Central" pipe connecting the ISP to the cloud.

BT manage the exchange connection to stay in tolerable limits. ISPs
pay a fortune for the BT Central links and tend to load them up rather
fully - 25,000 users on a 622M for example.

Tesco, Virgin, Tiscali and other Datastream ISPs have their own
dedicated pipes to the exchange which they can load as heavily (or
lightly) as they wish, these aren't managed by BT.

Phil